The Habits of Salvation

June 2, 2002

Matthew 7:21-29

My kids fight. They fight about anything and everything. They fight about the dog. They fight about food. They fight about treats. They fight about toys. And it does not matter if it is a desirable toy or not. They fight about it. One day I had to take away from them the hose of a toy vacuum cleaner that neither of them had looked at for years. I don’t know why this hose became an article of contention but I certainly knew that it had become the source of great animosity.

These fights usually turn into some kind of scuffle. Conner being a bit older and a bit wiser knows that he cannot outright hurt Abbie without taking a lot of heat from his parents. So he has devised ways to hit her without intending to. If you saw it you would know that it is not well disguised but as soon as you call him on it he immediately tells you he couldn’t be responsible. It was an accident he will plead, every time.

The trouble is that now if I am not there or Ann is not there we cannot weed out the real accidents from the intended ones. Now it seems in my mind that Conner is at fault every time Abbie gets hurt. Abbie now knows this and so nails Conner with every horrible thing that happens. And on and on it goes.

I am told that this is age appropriate behavior. I guess it is to be expected from little kids. But that is not the part that scares me. The truth is I see way too many adults acting the same way.

My kids would rather blame the other for their own hurt, their own mistakes; they are always claiming to be the victim. Again I hope this is age appropriate behavior and not something they are picking up from our culture. It is everywhere in our culture.

I am not sure this applies but it is so ironic I just have to tell you about it. Do you know that I saw in town the a few weeks ago one of those “Close Indian Point” bumper stickers on a Ford Excursion? A Ford Excursion is the biggest vehicle made for the general public. I am sure that it gets five or six miles to the gallon. It is the epitome of over-consumptiveness. It seems odd to me that this person who obviously does not care about their conspicuous consumption would have anything to say about Indian Point.

If this person is as over consumptive with electricity as this person is with gas then it sounds as if this person does not want to do anything to help the situation except to get someone else to fix the problem for him or her. This person is taking no responsibility for the problem and probably feels threatened and victimized by Indian Point. Until this person does more than complain or blame or believe someone else is responsible there will be no solution. That goes for all of us. Until we take responsibility in solving our own problems they will remain. If this same person took all that money that they spent on the over consumptive car and put up solar panels that produce electricity then their protest of Indian Point would make more sense and we would all be closer to solving the problem.

You know that is the answer to this Indian Point issue, if we all invested in solar panels we wouldn’t need Indian Point. But we all think that providing electricity is someone else’s problem. It is for the electric companies or the government but if we only blame them and wait for them to solve the problem it will never be solved. It has to come from us.

Mature adults should understand this because it takes wisdom to realize that blaming and complaining doesn’t do anyone any good especially the person who is doing the blaming and complaining.

In the reading today Jesus addresses this exact issue. This passage ends a long section in the book of Matthew known as the Sermon on the Mount. The essence of Jesus teaching in this section is that people change best the world by changing themselves. Every person is responsible for his or her own righteousness and that righteousness can bring a sea change in the world around us. But you have to change your own functioning. That is each of us must take responsibility for our own righteousness and act accordingly. And the key word is act.

Jesus says that not everyone who calls him Lord will be fit for the kingdom. The faith that Jesus is encouraging is not about spouting some words or having some beliefs it is rather about doing and acting with love and kindness. If faith is not about action then it is worthless.

“Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon a rock.” Jesus makes it clear that we have to act responsibly if we are to have any impact on the world. But the payoff for righteousness is not just what it will do for the world. That is not the only reason to take responsibility for yourself and your actions Jesus says. Rather it is what righteousness does for the person who is righteous.

If you follow the words of Jesus found in the Sermon on the Mount, that is if you judge not, seek the kingdom first, be not anxious, love your neighbor as yourself, love the lord your God, do not strike back, walk the extra mile, give to the poor, then you will not only help this world but you will help yourself. Jesus says that this kind of behavior is like building a house on a rock. If you take responsibility for yourself and making this world a better place you will be like a rock.

Jesus tells us it is important, very important what we do every day. If you do anything less than lead a righteous life you are sure to be courting disaster, but if you lead a righteous life you are sure to endure almost any trouble.

It is true. If you make as habit of taking responsibility for yourself and solving your own problems you will have a great sense of your self and your abilities and you will endure. But if everything is always someone else’s problem and you consider yourself the victim you will be sure to be lost and crumble under every problem.

Habits save us. That is if you habitually do that which is right you are far more likely to do the same under stress but if kindness, honesty, generosity, integrity, and love are novelties for you then it will be most difficult to achieve them especially under stress.